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Latin American stocks ended the session mixed to higher, as Brazilian equities climbed after recent losses. Investors listened carefully to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's prepared remarks to the U.S. House Budget Committee. Some investors were relieved he did not say anything about monetary policy.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa Index surged 469.72 points, or 1.69%, while Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index slipped 34.51 points, or 0.25%. Argentina's Merval Index dropped 15.99 points, or 1.00%.
Brazilian shares recovered from a bout of profit taking in the prior sessions as fears about U.S. and domestic interest rates eased. Analysts said investors poured money back into Brazil's market, inspired in part by U.S. Fed Chief Alan Greenspan's comments that recent increases in U.S. Treasury rates were "an enigma."
Analysts explained that Greenspan's calming remarks tended to reduce fears regarding abrupt U.S. interest rate hikes, with an orderly market for U.S. rates in turn lessening pressure for higher Brazilian interest rates, since Brazil tends to compete with the U.S. for investment dollars.
In corporate news, Refining Director Roberto Costa told reporters that Petrobras plans to invest US$2.8 billion in refineries, pipelines and petrochemicals in São Paulo state until 2010. That issue rose, following a plunge Tuesday.
On the earnings front, leading Brazilian brewer AmBev said its fourth- quarter net profit rose to 459.7 million reais after setting aside 43% of pretax income for taxes and provisions, up from 433.7 million reais in the corresponding period a year before.
However, AmBev's profit fell short of analyst estimates for roughly 590 million reais, causing the stock to drop.
Shares of fixed-line provider Telemar climbed, prior to its quarterly earnings release before market hours on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Mexican stocks ebbed in quiet trading, alongside weakness in the U.S. market on advancing crude oil prices. Following a record closing high on Friday, Mexican shares have experienced ups and downs this week, generally mimicking movement on Wall Street.
Traders noted that the tone was quiet after the recent rush to buy stocks amid earnings announcements.
Turning to research notes, a brokerage raised its 2005 estimate on Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo's earnings per share to 2.20 pesos from 2.04 pesos, but downgraded the stock to "hold" from "outperform."
The brokerage explained that planned beer price increases in the domestic market, a lower tax rate and reduced country risk should aid Modelo's margins, "but we no longer believe the stock has enough upside potential to justify a recommendation of outperform."
Also, another analyst began coverage on TV Azteca shares with a "buy" recommendation.
In other news, Mexico's telecommunications regulator, Cofetel, said the country's telecom industry expanded last year at 22.6%, its fastest pace since 2000, and that the outlook remains positive for 2005.
Meanwhile, Argentine shares declined, ahead of the planned announcement tomorrow of preliminary bondholder acceptance numbers in the country's US$ 103 billion debt restructuring.
Volatility has been high over the past week, with equities alternating directions in nearly every session. Analysts note that there is increasing concern that the Argentine market will sell off on Thursday's figure.
Shares rocketed higher in February on optimism regarding a solid acceptance rate, with any number below 80% resulting in disappointment. Local talk has focused on a result of 75% or above. Analysts cited the potential that the market has exaggerated its acceptance rate forecasts.
Thomson Financial Corporate Group
www.thomsonfinancial.com
PRNewswire
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Brazil received a huge boost in its international image with its selection as the host of the 2016 Olympics, but it was really just the cherry on top of the overall recognition of the country's ascension to the ranks of one of the world's most important countries. Now, as it finally takes its place on the world scene, there has been a great deal of concern about what kind of image Brazil hopes to project, now that the world is really paying attention. 
The only good thing to say about the visit to Brazil of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday November 23, is that it was mercifully short and lasted less than 24 hours. Ahmadinejad had his picture taken being hugged by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who gave him a warm welcome and said Iran had every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose.
They were advertising to sell lists of importers and exporters.
U.S. companies importing and exporting to Brazil.
The company was based in N.Y.
I would appreciate your help.
E-mail reply to: Kevinsullivan2@aol.com
Thank you